Page 74 of Deadly Sights

“Because what I’m about to ask is huge, and when I tell you everything, you probably won’t want anything to do with me ever again.”

“That’s not in Nadira’s nature. She’s loyal to a fault, and you should know this.”

“Yeah, but everyone has a breaking point.” Chelsea’s glance lands on Julian again. “You might be an exception.”

“Sorry? Do we know each other?” Julian studies Chelsea as if he’s putting together the fragments of a jigsaw puzzle but he’s missing most of the middle pieces.

“We do, but I’ve had plastic surgery since the last time we saw each other. And although I lied to you when you asked, Nadira, we know each other as well.”

Confused, I shake my head. “So why did you lie?”

“Because I’ve been spying on you.”

Julian jumps in front of me and pulls a gun on her, shielding me from this new threat.

“Julian, let me explain,” she says, hands raised in a sign of surrender.

“Start with who the hell you are.” I sidestep Julian with a weapon aimed at her.

She sits unsurprised by our reactions. “You knew me as Chloe when we were at Creative Gifts.”

I stumble into Julian, who wears the same shock on his face that I feel in my body.

“Fucked up, right? You have no idea how I felt the first time we met as adults, and you had no clue who I was. God, I was so fucking mad at you and your nerve, showing up like you hadn’t abandoned me.”

“So, this is payback?” I ask.

“Was payback. I couldn’t decide if you were playing me now or if you played me when we were kids. You were super smart back then and could have fooled me so easily.”

“What changed your mind?” Julian pulls a seat out across from her and offers it to me. When I decline, he takes it instead.

“The couple that assaulted Tamara went missing and no one has found them. It’s something Yolanda would have done without being asked. You have no idea how shitty I started feeling for carrying this sense of betrayal with me for so long.”

“I knew you could hold a grudge,” I say, remembering her feelings for her mother held even on the last day I saw her. “Hold up, you have parents. The last I checked Creative gifts never placed children for adoption.”

“They don’t exist. I used models as a cover.” Chelsea eyes me while taking a long drag from the bottle. “So your memory is coming back. I always wondered if the drugs I put in your water would have long-lasting effects.”

“What the fuck?” Julian upturns his chair as he shoots to his feet, a scowl darkening his features. “You drugged Nadira?”

Chelsea nods. “I’m not proud of it now, but I thought I had good reason to get back at her. Agreeing to slip her the memory blockers was the only way the organization would agree to keep her alive. Can you believe it?” She laughs derisively. “I was so mad at you and wanted you to hurt so badly. But even then I couldn’t stomach the thought of your death.”

“You were giving them my location after they put a bounty on my head.” My body shakes with rage and tiny fissures spread along my heart.

“Not on purpose!”

“That’s bullshit. Someone was on her tail in Spain.” Julian’s body vibrates from the control he exerts not to attack Chloe.

“That wasn’t me, I swear. My only slip was about Nadira getting her memories back.”

“Then how’d they know I would be at Danae’s on Thanksgiving?”

She takes a swig from her vodka bottle. “That was a trap. I planned to kill everyone who showed up before you arrived, but they sent more assassins than I expected.”

“You were the one shooting arrows?” Julian glares at her. “You could have killed us.”

“That would have defeated the entire purpose of laying a trap.” Chelsea turns to me. “Julian wasn’t the only one you taught about luring people where you wanted them. I never forgot what we practiced, and it came damn handy on Thanksgiving.”

I rub my temples as a memory crystallizes in my head. “Whenever we did weapons training, you always chose archery. You said because no one ever saw it coming and you could still be far away.” I drop the hand holding the gun.

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